GB2271960A

GB2271960A - Mouldable self-supporting reinforced material

Info

Publication number: GB2271960A
Application number: GB9222584A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Geoffrey Yeadon Lamb
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1992-10-27
Filing date: 1992-10-27
Publication date: 1994-05-04
Also published as: GB9222584D0

Abstract

A self-supporting reinforced material which has a pleasing appearance, but which is moldable to form a desired shape comprises an upper layer (11) of material, a lower layer (12) of material, a moldable reinforcing structure (13) sandwiched between said layers and an adhesive layer (14) between said layers of material. The layers may be natural or synthetic fabrics or polythene. The reinforcing material may be chicken wire or wire netting. <IMAGE>

Description

REINFORCED MATERIAL The invention relates to a self-supporting reinforced material which has a pleasing appearance, but which is moldable to form a desired shape.

In many fields, it is desired to produce an article having a particular physical shape, the texture or surface of which is appealing to the eye.

In the furniture and furnishings industries, this has been previously achieved by having carved wooden parts. Unfortunately, these can be very expensive to produce because of the skill required for the carving and the cost of material, and which can sometimes have other disadvantages such as being too heavy for the particular application required. In other existing applications, a wooden base may be formed which is then covered by a fabric of pleasing appearance. This, however, can be a laborious process which can look shoddy if not carried out perfectly. Such a process can be time consuming as it has a number of different operations e.g. forming the wood and then applying the fabric.

The object of the present invention is to provide a reinforced material which is flexible, which can be made at reasonable cost, which can easily be formed to a particular shape and easily cut when required.

According to the invention there is provided a self-supporting reinforced material comprising an upper layer of material, a lower layer of material, a moldable reinforcing structure sandwiched between said layers and an adhesive layer between said layers.

Preferred embodiments of the invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Fig. 1 is a plan view of a section of reinforced material according to the invention; Fig. 2 is a cross sectional end elevation of the material of Fig. 1 on the line II-II; and Fig. 3 is a pictorial representation of a piece of furniture constructed from the reinforced material of Fig. 1.

As can be seen in Figs. 1 and 2 there is shown a piece of self-supporting reinforced material 10 which is comprised of layers. The layers include an upper layer 11 of material and a lower layer 12. The layers of material 11, 12 may be natural fabrics, such as silk or cotton which has a very pleasing appearance, synthetic fabric such as rayon or nylon, or even classic materials such as polythene which are water-proof, wind-proof and washable.

The lower layer 12 may be of the same material as the upper layer 11 or alternatively may be of a different type or style of material, e.g. to provide a contrasting pattern to the other layer 12.

Alternatively a fabric may be used which provides additional stiffening to the reinforced material 10.

Sandwiched between the upper layer 11 and lower layer 12 is a reinforcing structure 13. The reinforcing structure 13 is preferably a framework type of structure such as hexagonal chicken wire, round or square wire netting etc. In addition to providing stiffness to the finished material 10, the reinforcing structure also provides a pleasing surface texture to the upper and lower layers 11, 12 by virtue of its physical construction. In the case of using chicken wire as the reinforcing structure 13, the finished material 10 will have a raised surface pattern of regular hexagonal outlines. The thickness of the elements of the reinforcing structure 13 is greater than that of the combined layers of fabric.

The various layers of the material 10 are bonded together using a suitable adhesive 14. The adhesive 14 should be applied to the layers 11, 12 so that in between the elements of the reinforcing structure 13, the upper and lower layers 11 and 12 are bonded together directly. Where the layers 11 and 12 cover the reinforcing structure 13, they may be bonded to the reinforcing structure 13 on either side thereof. The adhesive 14 may be applied by a number of different manners. One suitable option is the use of proprietary bondable webbing material such as vielene (Trade Mark) which can be obtained in various grades of stiffness. Such a webbing material can be fused to one of the layers 11 by applying heat from an iron or another suitable source.The webbing can then be fused to the second layer 12 and possibly the relevant parts of the reinforcing structure 13 after they have been positioned over the exposed surface of the webbing, by applying heat to the second layer 12. If this method is used, then the layer of adhesive 14 shown in Fig. 2 will only appear on one side of the reinforcing structure 13 rather than both sides as illustrated in Fig. 2. A preferred method of joining the layers of material 11, 12 is to use two layers of bondable webbing material. Each layer of bondable webbing material is fused to one layer of material 11 and 12. The two layers 11 and 12 are then placed on either side of the reinforcing structure 13 with the exposed surfaces of the bondable webbing material face to face.Heat can then be applied to one or both of the layers 11, 12 to cause the layers of bondable webbing material to fuse together around the reinforcing structure. This method produces a strongest bond which cannot be parted and adhesive is deposited on both sides of the reinforcing wire.

Alternatively an appropriate adhesive can be used which can be sprayed onto one surface of one or both of the layers of the fabric, which would avoid the need for heat bonding.

Another other appropriate method of applying adhesive may be used, including mechanically applying a film of adhesive to one or more layers of the material and rollers.

Once the adhesive has been applied, and where necessary allowed to harden, the result is a flexible moldable material which can be made to form any 3-D shape, but which is semi-rigid because of its reinforcing and is therefore self-supporting. The material can also be conveniently cut to any shape or dimension. Where chicken wire is used this can be achieved with ordinary household scissors. The material can therefore be made at a reasonable cost and is very flexible and easy to use.

The material 10 can be used to make many decorative and functional items where a pleasing visual and textual appearance is required in combination with ease of molding and cutting.

Examples of such items include pelmets, wardrobe panels, hats, lampshades, coronas and canopies, wastepaper bins. With suitable supporting structure items can also be made from the reinforced material such as wardrobes, cupboards, chest of drawers, comodes, cabinets, screens, bed heads, picture and mirror frames, laundry baskets and tubs, boxes and chests etc. In addition to free standing items, certain items such as wardrobes, cupboards, bed heads, coronas, canopies, pelmets etc. may be fixtures in parts or wholly, to walls or ceilings.

In addition to items of furniture, the material 10 may also be used on a structure to create false walls with doors or openings to create wall to wall wardrobes or walk in dressing rooms, panels of material 10 may also be used on an articulated structure, moving on suitable fixed housings to create false, lightweight, easily moved walls which may be manually or automatically operated which may be sliding or folding.

In addition to items of furniture and decorative items, the material 10 may be used as a complete canopy/roof for any shape of room and may also be used as a wall covering in any shape of room either adhered directly to the wall or stretched and fixed across wooden battons fixed to walls.

The material 10 can also have additional elements, such as bows 15 attached between the frameworks of the reinforcing structure 13 by sewing. Alternatively additional elements may be attached by loops passing around elements of the reinforcing structure 13.

Claims

CLAIMS:

1. A self-supporting reinforced material comprising an upper layer of material, a lower layer of material, a moldable reinforcing structure sandwiched between said layers and an adhesive layer between said layers of material.

2. A reinforced material as claimed in claim 1 in which the reinforcing structure comprises at least one framework.

3. A reinforced material as claimed in claim 2 in which there are provided a plurality of frameworks.

4. A reinforced material as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 3 in which the elements of the reinforcing structure have a thickness which is greater than the thickness of the layers of material.

5. A reinforced material as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 4 in which the reinforcing structure is chicken wire.

6. A reinforced material as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 5 in which the reinforced material is cuttable.

7. A reinforced material as claimed in any one of the preceding claims in which the material of the layers is material of pleasing appearance.

8. A reinforced material as claimed in any one of the preceding claims in which the material of the layers is a natural or a synthetic material.

9. A reinforced material as claimed in any one of the preceding claims in which the upper and lower layers of material are of the same material.

10. A reinforced material as claimed in any one of the preceding claims in which the upper and lower layers of material are of different materials.

11. A reinforced material as claimed in claim 10 in which one layer of material is stiffer than the other layer to provide additional reinforcement to the material.

12. A reinforced material as claimed in any one of the preceding claims in which the adhesive layer comprises a bondable material fused to one or more of the layers of material by heat.

13. A reinforced material as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 11 in which the adhesive layer is applied by means of a spray.

14. A reinforced material as claimed in any one of the preceding claims in which the reinforced material is capable of having additional elements sewn thereto.

15. A reinforced material as claimed in any one of the preceding claims in which additional elements may be attached to said material by passing attaching means through the layers of materials, around an element of the reinforcing structure, and back through the layers of material.

16. A method of making a reinforced material comprising applying a layer of adhesive to at least one layer of material, placing a moldable reinforcing structure between said layer of material and a second layer of material and causing the adhesive to bond the layers of material together thereby sandwiching the reinforcing structure between said layers.

17. A reinforced material as hereinbefore described with reference to and as shown in the accompanying drawings.